Thursday, March 09, 2017

There is therefore need for further thinking as to the
prerequisites for serving in the state’s judicial institutions in
general, and the Supreme Court in particular.

The Supreme Court, Jerusalem

As the new appointments for the Supreme Court were recently
announced, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and others announced their
desire to see a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) justice appointed. They
maintain that this is necessary for the Supreme Court to more fully
represent the diversity of Israeli society and the multiple views
therein. In the past, Minister Shaked was quoted as saying, “It’s a
disgrace that there is no Haredi justice.”

She should be praised
for her commitment to the principles of equality and pluralism, though
one may wonder whether those who speak in favor of appointing a Haredi
justice are genuinely committed to these values or whether this is just
another expression of the hypocrisy (all too familiar in our political
climate) which views the needed representation of “diversity” as first
and foremost the need to better reflect the colors and shades of the
government coalition. Suffice it to mention that we have not yet heard a
similarly strong statement regarding equitable representation of women
and Arabs.

Discriminating against Haredim as human beings or as Israeli
citizens is totally unacceptable, but the question of appointing a
Haredi justice to the Supreme Court raises additional questions that
the minister and her colleagues refuse to address.

A key element
in the Haredi outlook is the rejection of the legitimacy of Israel’s
laws and civil judiciary. Only last month did Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef
announce at a national rabbinic gathering that rabbis in Israel should
warn the public that in civil disputes they ought to turn to rabbinic
courts rather than to the state civil courts.

He explained his
push on the basis of the halachic ineligibility of women to give
testimony, and on the prohibition against accepting testimony from
those who are not religiously observant or from “state witnesses”: “They
decide matters that are against the Torah and admit witnesses that are
against Torah law. They accept testimony from people who are not God
fearing and desecrate the Sabbath! Also, they accept women as
witnesses... a ‘state witness’ is prohibited by Jewish law without any
doubt.”

It’s important to remember that the Chief Rabbi’s late
father, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, ruled that a civil court judge is
considered “evil” (rasha), rendering him ineligible for testimony, and
therefore nullified a marriage when one of the two witnesses was an
Orthodox civil court judge.

He explained that “he who turns to
gentile courts that adjudicate according to their laws is revolting
against Moses’ Torah, and is called rasha...they [Israeli civil court
judges – U.R.] adjudicate according to the laws of the world nations,
rather than by the Torah. They admit women’s testimonies.

They
are doing a number of things against the Torah... all judges in the
secular courts are [therefore] ineligible to give testimony.”

Many
Haredi rabbis have explicitly prohibited bringing legal disputes
before arkaot (as gentile and Israeli civil courts are described in
Haredi rabbinic literature). This is based upon their treating Israeli
laws as “gentile laws” and worse. This is what the leader of the
Ashkenazi Haredi community in the early years of the state, the Chazon
Ish, held: “They are not allowed to take upon themselves the laws of
the nations or to legislate laws.” He stressed that “there is no
difference between one who comes before non-Jewish judges and a Jew who
adjudicates according to fabricated laws. And it is worse yet that
they have replaced the laws of the Torah with nonsensical laws.” He
further admonished that “if the citizens agree regarding this [namely if
they agree on a democratic legislative process – U.R.] their agreement
is invalid, and if they enforce it – their judgments are robbery and
oppression, and a revolt against Moses’ Torah.”

Similarly,
former chief rabbi of Israel and current Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem
Shlomo Amar wrote that Israel’s state courts are in the category of
“gentile courts,” and coming to judgment before them is prohibited and
constitutes a desecration of the Divine Name.

There is therefore
need for further thinking as to the prerequisites for serving in the
state’s judicial institutions in general, and the Supreme Court in
particular. It would be necessary to ascertain whether Haredi
candidates for this position reject the outlook which delegitimizes the
State of Israel, its civil courts and its laws. It is essential to
verify that candidates for judicial posts recognize the laws of the
Knesset and do not aspire to eradicate them and replace them with Torah
Law. That they acknowledge the legitimacy of testimony of women,
secular Jews and gentiles. That they view bringing legal disputes before
the state civil courts favorably. That they respect the values of the
State of Israel, as they are expressed in our Declaration of
Independence, including freedom of religion and conscience. It is
highly doubtful that a candidate for judgeship who sincerely identifies
with these core values would be labeled “Haredi,” but without this
his/her appointment to a judicial post would not mend the judicial
system, but rather seriously corrupt it. This would not add to the
strength of Israel’s judiciary, but would be tantamount to bringing a
Trojan horse into its Holy of Holies.

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